Couldn't Get Worse
by TheNewBrokenEEB
Summary: On the night of All Hallow's Eve, many lives were ruined. You all know the tale of The Boy Who Lived, but there is one story you have never heard. The forgotten story. This, is the tale of Anna Potter, The Girl Who Lived, and The Girl Who Died.
1. Chapter 1 - What A Wonderful Life

**Okay, so before I even start this, I just wanted to say that I am a piece of shit for not updating my other stories, but I've been dealing with writer's block, and well, due to binge watching all the Harry Potter movies over that past week, I've decided to start this story. No promises that it won't be complete shit, but whatever.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but Anna, and any original plot lines I may come up with in the sadistic place that is my imagination.**

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It was October 31, 1981, when Anna Potter's life officially went to shit. She was merely a babe; only 1 year old, a small thing bundled in blankets as her mother, Lily, put herself and her brother Harry to bed. Unlike Harry, Anna was a quiet thing, rarely crying, always content to lay in her father's arms as her twin ran around the room with the energy of a horse.

She could not remember much from that terrible night, but what she did, would keep her up many nights in the years to come, for she had no idea where these strange memories came from. Her mother's scream, a dark figure, a bright green light, a searing pain in her cheek, and her brother's screams. It was these things that had her waking up in a cold sweat on this morning.

Sighing, Anna combed her messy, bright red hair back with her fingers before crawling out of the small, twin size mattress she shared with harry. "Ow!" she gave a quiet squeal as she hit her head on the ceiling of their "room". Quickly throwing on a shirt three sizes too big for her and an old pair of sweatpants held up by an ratty string she would tie around her waist, Anna made sure to wake up Harry before Aunt Petunia could throw a hissy fit.

"Wake up!" came a shrewd voice from above. "Get up, NOW!" _'Speak of the devil and thou shall appear.'_ Anna thought with a roll of her eyes. Harry's eyes shot open as dust showered down on them as a continuous thumping came from the stairs. "Wake up Potter! We're going to the zoo!" shouted the cringe-worthy voice of their cousin Dudley. Anna closed her eyes as her brother got dressed. Feeling the dust still falling down on them, she imagined the dust to be snow, light, fluffy snow falling down on her as she spun around outdoors. _'Oh, what a wonderful thing it would be'_ Anna thought wistfully. Finally opening her eyes, she turned to her brother, whose only resemblance to her was their bright, emerald eyes that shone like the gem itself.

"Come on little brother," she teased with a smirk on her lips. "lets us return to our lives of slavery for our sweet, sweet family." Anna dramatically bowed to the entrance of their cupboard as Harry chuckled at her theatrics. But begrudgingly, they made their way to the kitchen to cook breakfast, as Petunia no doubt would force them to. Anna sighed. _'Just another day in the life of the Potters.'_

"If you burn that bacon, you won't have any supper for a month." Aunt Petunia chided Anna as she and Harry slaved away for their Aunt. It was Dudley's birthday, so, in Aunt Petunia's words, "Everything had to be perfect for little Dudleykins." Anna held back a groan as she overheard Dudley whining about how he didn't have as many presents as the year before. She and Harry were lucky if they got a single pair of socks for their birthday, let alone a pair for each of them. Anna doubted she and her twin would ever receive even half the amount of presents that Dudley got in one day, in their entire lives as long as they lived with the Dursleys.

"You'd think they would have learned how to lie to him about the number of presents they bought him by now, considering how he complains every, single, year." she whisper to Harry as he finished cooking the eggs. He quickly smothered a laugh with a cough, grabbing the attention of Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up boy! Dudley's getting peckish. And where is that blasted bacon?" whether or not he meant for Anna to hear the next part remained unknown to her. "I'll be damned if I ever know why we keep that bloody girl around. She's absolutely good for nothing." Turning once more in her direction, he shouted "And cover up that blasted scar of yours!"

Unwilling to let her uncle's words affect her, Anna straightened her shoulders, and went to give her "family" their breakfast. She refused to cover up the scar that painted her cheek as he had wished, for she was not ashamed of something that was as much a part of her as firey hair, unlike her brother, who chose to cover his own with his severely overgrown bangs.

Once she and Harry had given them their food, they were permitted to share a piece of toast. "Now," Aunt Petunia shouted from the other room. "Go fix yourselves up, the both of you. You look absolutely awful. I will not have you disgracing this family by looking like you just crawled out of the sewers!"

Holding in a laugh, the oldest Potter playfully shoved her brother in the direction of their cupboard, pleased to have a break from the Dursleys. Once they had successfully shut the door that was almost half the height of themselves, Anna broke out into a quiet fit of laughter. "I will not have you disgracing this family," she mocked in Petunia's pitchy voice. "Bloody hell, if _we_ disgrace their family, I can't _imagine_ what Dudley does." Anna paused to inhale a deep breathe, before she resumed her laughter, doubled over as Harry soon joined her.

While their lives undoubtedly sucked, it was moments like these that the Potter twins cherished. Although their aunt, uncle, and cousin made their lives a living hell, they had each other, and that was the greatest gift they could ever imagine. Finally ending their well needed laughter, Harry playfully bumped his sister's shoulder. "Come on, we best get ready" he spoke poshly. "Since when do they ever let us leave the house?" Anna shrugged in agreement as she began to wipe off the dust that was still on her clothes from earlier that morning. Suddenly, her lips broke out into a devious smirk. "Hey, do ya think we could feed Dudley to the snakes?"

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 **Okay, so that was chapter one. I know it is a bit short, but hey, I thought that was a good point to leave off on. I tried my best to give a little bit of insight into Anna's character, and her relationship with her brother. The next chapter's will more than likely be a bit longer, but I'm not gonna make any promises. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish watching Half Blood Prince. I wasn't kidding when I said I was binge watching the HP movies.**

 **~TheNewBrokenEEB**


	2. Chapter 2 - Bloody Snakes

**A/N: I am not the genius/sadist that is J.K. Rowling, so I clearly don't own the HP series, otherwise like 90% of the characters would still be alive : / Just saying.** **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯**

"Come on Potters, if you don't hurry up, we'll leave you behind." Petunia screeched as she climbed into the car. Anna did not doubt what she had said. She was completely certain that the Dursley's would leave them behind in a heartbeat. As she and Harry exited the house, they were hit with the rare warmth of the sun. It was true what they said about England; rainy and cold 90% of the year. It was one of those unique days where the sun shone over the area, illuminating everything with a beautiful golden light. Days like these were ones everyone appreciated, that is, everyone but Vernon.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted as he covered his beady eyes with his hand. "It's too bright out here!" Anna stifled a chuckle as she and Harry approached the car. But before they could get in, Uncle Vernon grabbed them by the collars of their shirts, and slammed them up against the car door. Once he was certain that no one could see them, Vernon turned to address his niece and nephew. "I'm warning you," he growled in an attempt to be threatening, which failed miserably due to his pudgy physique. "Any funny business, and you won't get any meals."

Seeing as his words had no impact on the young twins, he squinted his eyes even more before adding, "For a week!" Keeping straight faces, Harry and Anna answered in sync, "Yes, sir." Narrowing his eyes even more, if that were even possible, Vernon released the children and hurriedly entered the driver's side of the car. Rolling their eyes, the Potters squished into the back seat of the car, excitement shining in their eyes as they drove off to the zoo.

"Make it move!" Dudley shouted to his father as he banged his flabby fist on the glass of the boa constrictor exhibit. Anna scowled in displeasure at her cousin's poor treatment of the animal. She felt sympathy for the snake, as did Harry, for they both knew what it felt like to be treated as a slave for the Dursleys's amusement.

Vernon, happy to comply with his spoiled son's wishes, stupidly repeated the boy's actions. "Move!" he shouted, having no effect on the boa. Anna sighed as she approached the glass, before turning to face the blasted idiots. "That won't do anything. He's asleep, and besides, the glass is most likely soundproof." Her uncle glared down at her.

"Are you smart-mouthing me, girl?" Before she had the chance to dig herself even deeper into a hole, Harry spoke up. "No, sir. Anna was just speaking offhandedly. You know that she doesn't have much of a filter." Anna sent her brother a slight glare, but nodded her head none the less when asked if this was true. Dudley, having gotten bored by the display, pulled his parents away to no doubt torture some other poor innocent creature.

"It must be awful," Harry spoke to the snake as they sat down in front of the glass. "Being stuck in there all day." "We know how you feel," Anna added. "Having people stare at you, poking their chubby fingers at you when all you want is to be left in peace." To their utter shock, the snake nodded its head. Anna gasped in pleasant surprise. "Can you hear us? You understand what we're saying?" Once again, the snake nodded.

"Cool" she said breathily as a large smile broke out on her face. Turning to look at Harry, she was pleased to see he wore a smile resembling her own. "We've never talked to a snake before." Harry continued addressing the snake. Zoning out, Anna began to think about it. She felt horrible for it, and wished there were a way to set it free. Shaking her head, she stood up, and held out her hand for Harry to take.

"Mum! Dad! You won't believe what the snake is doing!" Dudley's irritating voice rang in her ear as he shoved her over and pressed his ugly face up to the glass. "Get away from it, ya ugly git!" Anna yelled at him as she and Harry glared at the boy from where they laid on the ground. Suddenly, and to the twin's amusement, Dudley fell through the glass and into the boa exhibit.

Dudley may very well have pissed his pants as he laid face to face with the snake he had been mocking only moments ago. Said snake however, could not seem to care less about Dudley as he slithered past him and out of the area. He paused, however, as he approached the twins. _"Thanks"_ it seemed to hiss out. Harry, quickly shaking him out of his stupor, responded barely above a whisper, "Anytime." Anna just continued to smile.

This moment was quickly ruined by the sound of Dudley's screams. Turning their heads, the Potters were amused to find themselves staring at Dudley, who, somehow, was trapped behind the glass exhibit. "Mummy!" Dudley screamed as he slammed his pudgy fists against the glass. Leaning over towards her brother, she muttered in his ear, "Looks like the snake is finally where he belongs." Harry snorted loudly into his hand, drawing the unwanted attention of their devilish uncle.

The large man towered over the twins with a deadly glare, quickly wiping the grins from their faces. "You two," he seemed to growl between clenched teeth as he pointed his meaty finger in their faces. "Get to the car, _now_." Not wanting to incite anymore wrath from their torturer, the Potters quickly scrambled to their feet and practically sprinted to their car, waiting for their so called family to get Dudley out of the glass exhibit, and go home, where they would surely be punished for doing something that was theoretically impossible.

Sure enough, the second they got back to the Dursley residence, after ushering Dudley, whom was wrapped in multiple towels, into the house, Uncle Vernon grabbed hold of the twins' hair and shoved them up against the cupboard door. "What happened?!" the oaf spat in their faces, dirtying up their glasses. "I swear I don't know!" Harry shouted whilst Anna kicked their Uncle's shins, hoping he would release his grip on her aching scalp. When he tightened his grasp, she painfully exclaimed "One minute the glass was there and then it was gone! Bloody hell! I swear it was like magic!" At this, Vernon roughly threw his niece and nephew into their cupboard and slammed the door shut, violently locking it, and snarling out "There is _no_ such thingas _magic!_ " before storming away, leaving the twins to sulk and ponder how the day had turned to such rubbish.

Hours later, in the dead of night, Anna laid awake in their shared bed, looking up at the dusty ceiling. "Harry?" she whispered quietly to her sleeping twin. "Hmm, wha–" he groaned as he began to stir from his sleep. "What is it Annie?" he spoke between yawns, using her childhood nickname that only he was allowed to call her. "The glass today," she continued to whisper, as though even the slightest noise would awaken their aunt or uncle, whom would surely punish them for disturbing their sleep. "It just, _disappeared._ That's just not possible, Harry. It isn't."

Groaning, the youngest twin propped his head up with his arm, and spoke quietly to his sister. "Just don't worry about it Annie. You overthink things too much. It happened, there's nothing we can do about it now, so just leave it be." Sighing, Anna laid her head back down, and curled up into her brother's side. "Harry?" she questioned only a mere minute later, voice barely audible. "Yeah?" he inquired sleepily, his eyes remaining shut. "Do you believe in magic?" Wrapping his arms around his sister, Harry answered with an exhausted, "No." And only seconds later, even though her twin was now fast asleep, Annie took one last look at their grimy room, and muttered a clear voiced, "I do. I believe." before she closed her eyes, and let sleep consume her mind, body, and soul.

 **Ayy, chapter two. Hope you didn't utterly hate it. I swear, I'm American, but from all this British vocabulary I've been writing, I have literally started thinking in a British accent. I know, weird right? Anyway, read, review, follow, favorite, there are too many terms that are used on too many different writing websites, I can't keep up. So yeah, do the appropriate thing for whichever site you're reading this on. Adios.**


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